Goodbye, Geneva

My Mother-in-law, Geneva, died this morning. For the past 5 days she has struggled to leave a 100 year old body that refused to let go. And for those 5 days her 5 children, their spouses, many grandchildren and great grandchildren have kept watch over her, saying goodbye, overseeing her comfort and ensuring that her death would not be unattended. Today we share a collective sigh of relief wrapped around our sense of loss, gratitude, and love for a strong woman whose generous spirit and loving nature touched each of us. She addressed our higher qualities and assumed the lower ones would ultimately fade into obscurity.  As a family we organized ourselves around her and my father-in-law who died last December at age 101. With many of us living so far from the family home and from each other, It remains to be seen how we redefine and maintain our connections. Yet another of life’s inevitable transitions.

By: Bonnie Shetler